Improving Patient Outcomes in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: Evaluating the Clinical Implications of Emerging Advances for Early Diagnosis and Intervention

Target Audience
This initiative is intended for internal medicine, primary care, family/general practice physicians, and others providing care to patients with PSP. No prerequisites required.

Statement of Need/Program Overview
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is an atypical parkinsonian neurodegenerative condition due to tau pathology, which is associated with significant morbidity. While symptomatic therapy for patients with PSP is available, the disease progresses over time. Unfortunately, there are no approved treatments that alter PSP disease progression. Patients experience progressive worsening of symptoms affecting ambulation, mobility, vision, speech, swallowing, and behavior over the 7- to 10-year course of the disease. This burden of untreated PSP creates an unmet clinical need for both patients and caregivers.

PSP has a broad and variable presentation, with overlapping features of other atypical parkinsonian disorders, which contributes to the difficulties in diagnosing patients. Advances in clinical diagnosis have led to revisions of the International Parkinson's and Movement Disorder Society Criteria for the Diagnosis of PSP, of which healthcare providers must be knowledgeable. Early recognition of individuals with findings suggestive of PSP is becoming increasingly important as neuroprotective treatments are under investigation. This archived presentation will provide a clinical overview of PSP – its diagnosis (including patient cases and videos), practical strategies for symptom management, patient and caregiver education, as well as a discussion of tau pathology and recent developments in investigational therapies that modify disease progression.

Learning Objectives
After participating in this activity, the participant will demonstrate the ability to:

RECOGNIZE the burden of cognitive, behavioral, and emotional changes as it relates to the progression of PSP.
EVALUATE current criteria for the early diagnosis of PSP.
DESCRIBE the tauopathy of PSP disease progression and the clinical efficacy of emerging targeted therapies at addressing this pathology.
EXPLORE current therapies for the symptomatic management of PSP and the related impact on patient quality-of-life.